After a successful weekend in Greensboro, the UConn softball team (7-5) will make a trip to Lynchburg, Virginia for the Liberty Invitational, facing host team Liberty University, along with Radford University and Iona University in five games this upcoming weekend.
The Huskies had a strong trip in the UNCG Invitational, picking up two wins against host team UNC Greensboro and a shutout victory against Indiana University. Their one loss came last Saturday against the University of Delaware, falling 6-4.
UConn was awarded for their strong weekend, with junior infielder Jana Sanden and pitcher Payton Kinney being named the Big East Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
Sanden went to work on offense, bringing in six runs total with two home runs. She’s coming off a weekend where she hit .462 with a .923 slugging percentage.
Kinney pitched a total of 12.1 innings in Greensboro, holding a 0.00 era and allowed just two hits, holding the opposing players to a batting average of .050. She had 18 strikeouts total, including 14 in a complete game on Saturday against UNC Greensboro.
The Huskies will begin the weekend with the Liberty Flames (5-9), who have won their first four games at home. Similar to the Huskies, the Flames are coming off a strong weekend both on pitching and batting. A player to look out for is sophomore outfielder Rachel Roupe, who was named ASUN Player of the Week.
Next up will be the Radford Highlanders (6-8), on Saturday evening. The Highlanders are ice cold, having lost their last four games and being outscored 17-2 against the University of Virginia in a doubleheader on Tuesday.
They will then wrap the weekend up with back-to-back games against the Iona Gaels (2-3). It was a rough start to the season for the Gaels as they traveled to the University of South Carolina Upstate, where they got demolished by Drexel University and USC Upstate to begin their season.
However, they did pick up the pace, earning back-to-back victories over Drexel and Queens University as they headed into the final game of the Wings Etc. Classic. Unfortunately for Iona, USC Upstate was able to get ahead and take the win, 6-5.
Liberty has had the toughest schedule out of the field, falling to some of the best teams in the country in Oklahoma, Duke, Washington, UCLA, Stanford, and Tennessee.
All games this weekend will take place at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Football Stadium. The first game is tonight against the Flames at 4 p.m. Tomorrow, the Huskies will have a doubleheader against Liberty and Radford, with the first game starting at 12:30 p.m. and the second game starting at 5 p.m. It will be an early Sunday for UConn to wrap up the weekend, as the first game against Iona begins at 10 a.m. and the second at noon.
Both games against Liberty are available to stream on ESPN+, however, the other games are not listed as available as of now.
This is the last weekend before the Huskies have games back at home on campus, where they will face Seton Hall University.
